Romania should refrain from making substantial changes to the legal framework shortly before elections or from resorting to emergency ordinances to tackle politically sensitive issues, https://www.coe.int/ informs. While the 2024 local elections in Romania were generally well-organised, they remained significantly impacted by the introduction of the emergency ordinance to hold local and European Parliament elections on the same day, which was issued a few months before the election day. The situation underlined the need for a unified electoral code developed through broad and inclusive consultations. These were the main findings presented by co-rapporteurs Randi Mondorf (Denmark, ILDG) and Jorge Sequeira (Portugal, SOC/G/PD) in a report adopted by the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities at its 48th session on 26 March 2025. The report was based on a fact-finding visit held on 24 October 2024 in Bucharest, initiated by the Congress Monitoring Committee in response to a complaint alleging irregularities in the June 2024 local elections. The report stressed the importance of electoral stability and noted that the decision to resort to the emergency ordinance could have been avoided, a view shared by the Venice Commission in its opinion published on 14 March 2024. In its recommendation, the Congress encouraged the Romanian authorities to simplify and review procedures and deadlines applicable to counting and tabulation processes, strengthen the election administration’s capacity to work more transparently, and consider introducing mandatory and ex-officio recounts in the event of significant deviations in protocols. The co-rapporteurs concluded that “strengthening the democratic process at subnational level in Romania will require more effort to enhance inclusivity and build public trust. Promoting the participation of women and young people as candidates, through quotas and by lowering the minimum age to stand in elections to 18, as well as broadening the rights of election observers could constitute key steps to reinforce local democracy”.
Two sovereignist candidates, namely the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), George Simion, and former Social Democratic (PSD) prime minister Victor Ponta, are in the first two positions in the race for the presidential office in a Verifield poll commissioned by Bucharest mayor Nicușor Dan and presented on Monday, March […]
Romania is becoming a European benchmark in sustainability, thanks to the Deposit Return System implemented by RetuRO, the company managing the country’s largest circular economy project. The system’s performance in its first year of operation and its development objectives for this year were presented by Gemma Webb, CEO and Chair of the RetuRO Board of […]
Teilor Holding, the company operating the Teilor jewelry store chain, is on track to list its two corporate bonds on the Bucharest Stock Exchange on Thursday, April 13. The bonds, which will go on the AeRO Multilateral Trading System, have a total aggregated value of nearly EUR 4.5 million, and were sold in October last […]
Eight Romanian couriers in the United Kingdom were sentenced to more than 30 years imprisonment after stealing parcels worth EUR 1 million and selling them online. Three of the suspects managed to flee to Romania and are now being sought. The former couriers operated together between September 2022 and February 2023 in Birmingham. Using their […]
Bucharest’s central Easter fair, Traditions and Flowers of the Holidays, returns in King Michael I Park (Herăstrău) between April 12 and 21. Held at the Charles de Gaulle entrance, the event awaits visitors with local crafts, traditions, and various activities. The fair is dedicated both to the Palm Sunday and Easter holidays, the organizers said. […]
Interim president Ilie Bolojan marked 21 years since Romania's accession to the North Atlantic Alliance by stating that the NATO anti-missile shield in southern Romania made the country safe, allowing it to develop economically. NATO membership meant that Romania was a safe place, Bolojan said, adding that this was “especially due to the support provided […]
